April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Tourist arrivals to Mauritius
climbed 1.5 percent in the first quarter as an increase in
guests from Asia and Africa offset a decline in holidaymakers
from the biggest source market, Europe.

The number of foreigners visiting the Indian Ocean island
nation advanced to 265,838 in the first three months of 2013
from 261,995 a year earlier, Port Louis-based Statistics
Mauritius, said in a statement on its website. Tourist numbers
rose 9.5 percent to 91,759 in March from the year before.

Arrivals from Europe, which account for more than half of
Mauritius’s tourists, declined 8 percent in the first quarter,
with a decrease of visitors from Spain, Italy and France. The
number of leisure travelers from Asia jumped 37 percent while
arrivals from Africa rose 16 percent, according to the
statistics office.

Tourism represented about 8.2 percent of the country’s
gross domestic product last year and it is one of the largest
foreign exchange earners.